The heartbroken parents of tragic schoolboy Preston Flores learned there would not be a fatal accident inquiry in his death – from a TV report.
Keith Will, 33, and partner Luisza Flores, 34, claim they did not receive a letter from the Procurator Fiscal until the morning after TV bulletins reported the news.
The family had desperately hoped an official investigation would help them find out what happened to their son.
Preston, seven, was severely burned during an incident in Aberdeen in April last year which is believed to have involved petrol.
Speaking today, Keith, from Powis, Aberdeen, said: “We are disgusted. It is bad enough that authorities are failing to hold an inquiry into how our precious wee boy came to be set fire on a public street.
“But for us to find out about it on television is nothing short of shocking.
“We are sickened by the way we have been treated.
“Luisza got a phone call from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal’s Service asking if she had received a letter about the FAI.
“She said she hadn’t and wanted to know what it was about, but the caller said they couldn’t discuss it over the phone.
“Then that same day I got a phone call from my mum who said my dad had just seen on the TV news that there was to be no Fatal Accident Inquiry into Preston’s death.”
Preston’s grandmother, Fiona Will, said the news made her break down into tears and nearly collapse from shock.
She said: “I almost collapsed. I broke down in tears. I phoned Keith and he couldn’t take it in.
“Whoever phoned them should have called back to make sure the letter had arrived before putting the decision in the public domain.”
But the Crown Office has said it is satisfied that the circumstances surrounding Preston’s have been established and there is no further need for the probe.
The horrific incident is understood to have involved a petrol canister found in the back of a council van.
Witnesses said Preston had been playing with other children on top of the vehicle before the tragedy happened.
He died from his injuries just days before his eighth birthday while at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
Keith added: “We are in shock. We still want to know how our son died. We know he had petrol all over him, but the police and Crown Office have not said how it got there and how it came to be lit.
“We only know what Preston himself told us before he died, and the police have not listened to that.
“We know he did not set himself on fire. We just want the truth. We will go to every higher power possible.”
North-east MSP Richard Baker called the Crown Office’s decision “disappointing” considering the tragic circumstances of Preston’s death.
He said: “Given the fact there has been a tragic loss of life there is a strong need for a fatal accident inquiry, which his family clearly wanted.
“I would expect a full explanation to be given by the Crown Office as to why this decision has been reached.”
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “Following careful consideration, independent Crown Counsel are satisfied the cause of the death has been established and have decided not to hold an FAI.
“The family have been advised of the decision.”